There is no doubt that there are immense social needs in SA’s unequal and poverty-stricken society, and deciding which ones to address within a constrained fiscal envelope requires an assessment of their relative importance and affordability.
It is within this context that the proposals by the SA Law Reform Commission for maternity benefits to be extended to poor and self-employed women must be evaluated. Both an Unemployment Insurance Fund benefit for maternity leave and the extension of the child-support grant to pregnant mothers for six months of pregnancy is envisaged.
While the equal treatment of all women irrespective of class is laudable and required by the constitution, no comparative analysis was undertaken of the competing social needs that require attention to determine whether this is the best way to spend the estimated R3bn a year that the proposed extension of the child-support grant will cost.
The commission’s proposal comes at a time of severe fiscal distress which saw the Treasury proposing deep cuts in spending over the next three years in the medium-term budget policy statement. There is no scope for new programmes when even the extension of the sorely needed R350 social relief of distress grant beyond March 2025 is uncertain. The Treasury has already expressed its reservations about the proposal on fiscal grounds, as well as the feasibility of getting UIF contributions from informal workers.
The entire social security system is under review and it is within this context that the commission’s proposals will have to be considered.
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